Chapter 667 - 667: [667] : Chysis Is Ready for a Taste

From the moment Runeas arrived on Itogami Island, her daily life had transformed into something vibrant and exciting.

From the first day's beach island getaway, to the second day of mall-hopping, clothes shopping, and arcade adventures.

Before anyone knew it, day three of Runeas's stay had arrived.

At the familiar hour of nine in the morning, Venelana, Runeas, and Chysis sat at their usual spots around the dining table inside the beach villa, having breakfast.

Compared to the previous two days, Runeas—having now spent two full nights on the island—seemed especially energized.

"Fufufu~ These past two days on the island have been an absolute blast! The beds here are super soft, the food's incredible, and there's so much to do—nothing like those miserable days of being a family head back in the Underworld!"

The revered ancestor proclaimed these thoroughly irresponsible—and frankly treasonous—words while enthusiastically slurping down a plate of pasta.

"So, where should we have Bokue take us today~"

Just as Runeas—who hadn't even finished her breakfast yet—was already daydreaming about the day's itinerary, Venelana's voice drifted over from across the table, interrupting her train of thought.

"Mm, I'm sorry, Lady Runeas—I'm afraid I won't be able to join you and Mother-in-law today."

"Eh? Why not?"

The ancestor—who just a second ago had been grinning with her eyes half-closed in bliss—snapped them wide open at this news, blinking twice at the beautiful woman across the table. She couldn't quite comprehend why yesterday had been all fun and games, only for today to suddenly be off-limits.

"Because..."

Venelana began, gently pressing her lips together. A rare hint of resignation surfaced through that beautiful face which normally radiated nothing but warm, maternal grace.

"It's already been three days since I left the Underworld. Sirzechs-chan is serving as a Satan now, so he basically never has time to come home. Someone has to keep an eye on the Gremory territory, so..."

These words were nothing more than a convenient excuse, of course.

But even as an excuse, she had no choice but to use it.

It was sort of like the difference between doing homework with or without your parents watching over your shoulder.

Without parental supervision, homework meant either letting the calculator do all the work—or in more extreme cases—straight-up copying from the answer key.

But with a parent hovering right there, the experience was more akin to prison. You had to meticulously write everything by hand, and then put on a whole performance of double-checking your work afterward.

Venelana was currently living the latter scenario.

Back when Chysis had been in full retirement—completely hands-off with Gremory family affairs, leaving the entire operation to Venelana's sole discretion—she could afford to be carefree.

As long as nothing went wrong, it was all good.

But things had changed. With Chysis emerging from seclusion, Venelana's life couldn't be as freewheeling as before.

Otherwise, she'd risk having the label of "negligent management" slapped right on her forehead.

Especially since she couldn't exactly argue back—the other party was her mother-in-law and the former head of House Gremory.

"Territory management, huh..."

Runeas pursed her lips the moment she heard this.

"You really don't need to worry about that kind of stuff. You're all in the alliance era now—nobody's going around picking fights with each other like the old days."

"Besides, my latest-generation descendant is literally a Satan. What kind of idiot would be dumb enough to start trouble on a Satan's family territory?"

"Lady Runeas~"

Just as Runeas was delivering her impassioned manifesto on the merits of slacking off, Chysis beside her cut in directly—turning to gift the ancestor a smile so innocent it could melt butter.

"Venelana-chan has her own responsibilities to attend to. You and I, Lady Runeas, have both retired from the family head position—we really can't hold everyone to the same standard, can we?"

"Ugh..."

As if sensing some inexplicable pressure bearing down on her, Runeas's voice died in her throat. Under Chysis's gentle but unwavering gaze, the ancestor ultimately nodded with careful obedience.

"Uh... yeah, okay."

The very picture of compliance.

"I'm glad you understand, Lady Runeas."

Satisfied with the response, Chysis lifted the corners of her lips.

Then she turned toward Venelana across the table.

"By the way—have you mentioned this to Rias-chan and the others yet, Venelana-chan?"

"Last night... oh, right—I didn't get the chance to tell them."

The words had barely reached Venelana's lips before she hastily corrected herself.

"I forgot last night."

"I see."

Chysis considered this briefly, then gave a light snap of her fingers.

"No matter. It's certainly too late to tell them now—they're probably already at school by this hour. But I'll stop by this evening and let them know."

"Oh, um... okay. Thank you, Mother-in-law."

Venelana gave a slight nod, not betraying the faintest hint of anything unusual.

It should be fine. She'd actually already told Rias about this last night when she went over for the "pool party." And since Rias and the others had already accepted her relationship with Bokue...

There was zero chance of the cover being blown. Totally safe.

❁❁❁❁

Today's arrangement was naturally the same as yesterday—Bokue serving as tour guide, taking Runeas and Chysis around Itogami Island.

And once again, they never made it out of Keystone Gate.

Because Runeas discovered the wonderful invention known as movies.

The entire day was spent accompanying a certain ancestor through a marathon theater session. The premium audiovisual experience left Runeas—whose knowledge of modern culture was centuries out of date, and who hadn't even known what a movie was—completely blown away, gushing with praise after every single screening.

❁❁❁❁

Time flew by until evening—or more precisely, well past dinner.

At the top of Keystone Gate, inside a second-floor bedroom of the beach villa.

Outside the window, the sky was gradually darkening as night descended. Runeas—having already eaten dinner—now sat perched at the foot of her bed, hands pressed between her knees against the mattress, upper body leaning slightly forward, fixated with rapt attention on the magical new device before her called a "television."

It was currently playing a sci-fi film she'd never seen before.

She'd actually noticed this fascinating little gadget on her very first day here, but had absolutely no idea how to operate it. It wasn't until Chysis helped her set it up today that she realized what a treasure she'd been missing.

Sure, it couldn't quite compare to the full theater experience—but it was more than acceptable.

More importantly, she could watch while lounging on a big, soft bed. The ultimate two-for-one luxury.

But just as Runeas was getting into the thick of the plot, a rhythmic knocking came from the bedroom door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Runeas—completely absorbed in the unfolding drama on screen—didn't hear a thing.

A second later, the door was gently pushed open from outside. Chysis stepped in, and upon seeing the ancestor planted at the foot of the bed, eyes utterly glued to the television without the faintest intention of looking away, she let out a small just as I expected smile.

"Lady Runeas, I came by because there's something I'd like to report."

"Mm-hmm..."

Runeas—whose attention had been completely hijacked—gave a half-hearted nod and a mumbled response.

Seeing this, Chysis raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.

"Lady Runeas, I've just realized I need to make a quick trip back to the Underworld. I'm afraid I won't be able to keep you company for tonight's movie viewing."

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm—it's fine, it's fine, go ahead..."

Peak dismissiveness.

But that was exactly the result Chysis had been hoping for.

"Thank you, Lady Runeas."

With that, Chysis smiled faintly, turned, and walked out of the room—gently closing the door behind her.

And the instant she vanished from Runeas's line of sight, a flash of magical light flickered across her fingertips. That beautiful crimson single ponytail was swiftly washed over by transformation magic—its color bleeding from vivid red into a soft, elegant ash-blonde.

Identical to Venelana's.

"Well then... time to head over to Rias-chan's place. Bokue is... quite the spirited young man, isn't he? Though since this will be my first time experiencing something like this—I do hope he won't leave me too much of a wreck, ufufu~"

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